Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

April 7, 2012

Thumbs up to the 65th annual Easter egg hunt this morning at Allen Park in Jamestown. The city Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department, with help from local clubs and businesses, is sponsoring the hunt that involves some 3,000 eggs. Everything gets under way at 10:30.

Thumbs up to the start of the major league baseball season. Oh, you sweet boys of summer, welcome back.

A special thumbs up to St. John's Church in Cattaraugus as congregants on Sunday will commemorate the beginning of the 125th year since its founding.

The church dates to 1887 when German immigrants in the area felt the need for a church and Sunday school that reflected their native tongue and culture. Organized as an Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. John's has served the community ever since. As we noted a few days ago, within the walls of St. John's, hundreds of people have been united in marriage, babies baptized, young people confirmed and loved ones committed to their eternal resting place.

The worship service begins at 9 a.m. Sunday. As always, the doors of St. John's stand open to welcome all who enter.

And, finally, thumbs down to this news:

Students at Santa Monica College in California went a bit overboard this week in reaction to the school's plan to charge a premium price for high-demand, core education courses such as English, history and math. The cost to students at the community college would be more than three times the regular course fees.

News that police used pepper spray on students who were trying to get into a small board room to protest the extra cost came in the same week that The Associated Press reported student debt nationally is a bomb waiting to go off in our fragile economy. At a time when everyone, college graduates included, had been contending with a soft job market, the AP notes that Americans owe $1 trillion in student loans - which is a debt larger than credit cards and auto loans combined.